1881 .] 
AMERICAN - AGRICULTURIST. 
355 
refrigerator. The garden, rich in root crops of 
every variety, presents a striking contrast to the 
rough unsubdued country about it. It was indeed a 
novel sight to see growing here Champions, Sharp- 
less’s, Triumphs, and even the Bidwell strawber¬ 
ries, a few plants of which Mr. Roe had just sent 
to the clearing. Ail manner of garden truck 
STATIONARY CAMP CHAIR. 
thrives here, owing to the proximity to the lake, 
when in the settlements, several hundred feet be¬ 
low, they are often killed by the heavy frosts. 
On the further side of the garden, close up to the 
forest line, a log barn displayed more o£ the preach¬ 
er’s handiwork. Enough grass was cut from the 
clearing last season to winter his horse and three 
cows, and this spring, when the barns down in the 
settlements were empty, he still had a considerable 
stock cf hay on hand. 
I was Dot a little amused at discovering some 
Brussels’ carpeting in the mow, Rev. James, in his 
fancy, preferring to stow away these “relics of 
civilization,” as he called them, in the barn, to put¬ 
ting them to practical use in the house. 
Spring-House and Churn Contrivance. 
A few rods from the barn, in the forest edge, 
stood the spring-house, covering a perenuial spring, 
and surmounted by a novel churning apparatus, 
Mr. Beecher’s make. It consists of a sapling, 6ee 
illustration, fastened to the roof of the shed, with a 
pole suspended from the upper end. From the 
lower end of this pole an ordinary screw protrudes, 
which fits into a groove in the handle of the churn. 
The elasticity of the sapling enables you to play 
the handle up and down with very little physical 
effort, thereby avoiding much of the labor ordinari¬ 
ly necessitated in churning. This simple con¬ 
trivance, resembling the old-fashioned well-sweep, 
can be made by any one in two hours’ time. 
Buckwheat, Oats, and Grass, comprise this year’s 
crop, and the proprietor raises about everything 
required, save flour and groceries, to maintain his 
family. He says that unless he should, owing to 
now unforeseen circumstances “ burst up,” he ex¬ 
pects ere long to become a very respectable farmer 
way up here in the mountain forest of Hardenburgh 
township, two thousand feet, more or less, above 
tide water, and 117 miles from New York by rail, 
and 26 by private conveyance. 
Brothers Tom and Jim—a “ Talk.” 
Retracing our steps to the house, we followed 
along the Lake shore to the tents, marvels of neat- 
CAMP BEDSTEAD. 
ness, occupied by Rev. Thomas K. Beecher and his 
lady. “ Brother Tom, let me introduce you to So- 
and-so,” said Rev. James, and “ Brother Tom ” rose 
from his novel easy chair, after the manner of Dr. 
Livingstone in the Nijiji forest, when Stanley came 
suddenly upon him. “ Brother Tom,” in physique, 
flowing beard, dress, and general appearance is the 
double of “ Brother Jim.” He laid down his briar 
wood, requested “brother Jim” to go inside, and 
bring out some more pipes, and then motioning us 
to home-made chairs, we were 60 on seated about 
the camp-fire for a “ talk.” The scene was pictur¬ 
esque and charming in the extreme. The lake 
murmured at our feet, and rippled against the sides 
of a miniature flat boat. A dense forest formed a 
dark background,and a rich carpet of green spanned 
the intervening space. Overshadowing maples 
tempered the rays of the sun, which fairly flooded 
the near range of wooded mountains, and gilded 
the distant peaks. Huge boulders here and there 
stood out in bold relief, as if stranded on these 
mountain sides in the grand “ ebb and flow of na¬ 
ture.” Two children were playing in a swing sus¬ 
pended from a neighboring tree, while a third 
amused herself with tossing pebbles at a domes¬ 
ticated duck which came sailing by with her pretty 
little brood. Mrs. Thomas Beecher, a cheery-faced, 
matronly lady, soon emerged from the nearest tent 
and joined the group. Illness that day kept Mrs. 
James Beecher to her room. 
Camp Fire Contemplations. 
Who, thought I to myself, would not gladly ex¬ 
change for such a fairy scene, for such a charmed 
existence, the intense life of business centers, the 
brain racket of law, journalism, or politics—at the 
risk of having your friends or the world say, you 
are queer, off your balance, are vegetating, have 
buried your talent, or gone into mental bank¬ 
ruptcy ? 
If all there be of life, is preparation for another, 
and attainment of present happiness; if this life 
here be intellectual insolvency—better one week 
of Beecher Clearing than a whole cycle of the 
average business or professional man’s existence, 
however crowned it may be with material or 
“ reputational ” success 1 Better, versed in wood¬ 
craft than in the trapping of men 1 Better green 
and woodsy, than ripe and cosmopolitan as the 
world goes 1 They may not continue long, but 
such thoughts as these whip the brain, as you, for 
the time being, become a part of this quiet, restful, 
delicious existence, here by the lake. 
“ Wife and I have been coming here for this tent- 
life now going on six years,” exclaimed brother 
Tom, as he rose, stretched his limbs, and refilled 
his pipe, “ and we like it better and better every 
summer.”—“ Yes,” chimed in brother Jim, “and 
you, gentlemen, show' good sense in cruising about 
these mountains, rather than on the main, with a 
festive boating party. You have heard the sailor’s 
response, when asked by a fellow tar what a yacht 
was ! ‘ A lot of rich fellows come down to the water, 
get any old raft, run up two poles, tie a couple of 
sheets to them, roil a barrel of whiskey aboard, 
have a week’s spree, and they call that a yacht.’ ” 
A Busy Life. 
Rev. Thomas, who is fifty-six, about two years 
older than Rev. James, rapidly epitomized some of 
the chapters of his busy life. He told how Horace 
Greeley pressed him to take half of the “ Tribune ” 
in its early days; described the amazement and 
positive horror of the cockney servant, at his 
(Beecher’s), putting his hat into his pocket, instead 
of hanging it upon the rack, when he was ushered 
into the presence of the late Dean Stanley; nar¬ 
rated interesting incidents of a South American 
tour, and went over his long and eventful pas- I 
toral life of nearly thirty years, at Elmira. Later 
on we discussed theology from various standpoints, 
and my conclusions were, that, neither orthodox nor 
heterodox, he had been very happily classed, 
with brothers and sisters, by some one who knows 
them all, as “saints, sinners, and the Beecher 
Family.” After my day’s visit in this remote spot, 
reached only by a private road, with these two 
brothers, so fond of each other, apparently so fond 
of all the other members of their family—I could 
appreciate the significance and fidelity of the above 
classification. 
Mrs. Beecher’s Camp Bedstead. 
Mrs. Thomas Beecher, who meanwhile had been 
reading her letters, brought by a frontiersman from 
the settlement, called us to the tent to inspect 
their easy bed, see illustration. Four plain boards are 
nailed to four plain legs, making a skeleton lounge. 
Inside these boards, resting upon cross pieces, to 
prevent it dropping down too far, is a stretcher 
made of barrel staves, fastened together by an 
ordinary bed cord, which passes through holes bored 
Year the ends of the staves. This affords a very 
springy support for the tick, filled with straw, hay, 
leaves, or wild grass, if there be nothing better at 
hand. The bed can be made in a short time with 
an axe, hammer, auger, a few nails, and a strong 
cord or light rope, and serves a good purpose at 
home as well as in camp. If no barrel staves are 
at hand, tree limbs, or pieces of wood, can be used. 
Stationary Camp Chair. 
The chair, see figure, which Rev. Thomas occupied, 
is likewise easily made. Into the sides of a log, five 
or six feet long, two poles are inserted, and fast¬ 
ened together at the top with a cross-piece. Sus¬ 
pended from the latter is a stretcher made like the 
one on the bed, viz., of barrel staves, and fastened 
to the log by the ropes, which hold the arched 
staves together. Resting your legs over the log, and 
throwing yourself back in the stretcher, which 
readily yields and adapts itself to the back, you 
obtain a most comfortable, half-reclining position. 
The weight of the log keeps the framework station¬ 
ary, and from toppling over. 
Another chair, though more elaborate, is made 
on the 6ame plan with side rests for the arms. 
The Movable Camp Chair. 
Still a third chair is so constructed that it can 
be readily moved about from place to place, as 
needed, the upper cross-piece serving as a handle 
for lifting it about. 
The Swinging Chnir, 
Made much after the same model, can be hung 
against a tree, or suspended from a limb. All 
these chairs, which, like the bed, are Mrs. Thomas 
Beecher’s inventions, will be found very useful 
elsewhere, as well as in camp, combining, as they 
do, comfort and cheapness. They would likewise 
serve as very handsome rustic ornaments for ver¬ 
andah and lawn, or for dining and sitting-room, 
for that matter. 
As we conversed, trout were seen to occasionally 
rise under the overhanging branches on the op- 
I posite shore. Rev. James quickly pulled us over in 
